| Jurisdiction: | Diocese |
| Swansea and Brecon | |
| Local: | Esgobaeth Abertawe ac Aberhonddu |
| Coat Size: | 100px |
| Flag Size: | 100px |
| Province: | Wales |
| Cathedral: | Brecon Cathedral |
| Archdeaconries: | Brecon, Gower |
| Map Size: | 150px |
Reverend William Jones Thomas (1811 - 1886) [1] [2] was a 19th-century Welsh Anglican priest. He was vicar at the pre-conquest church of St. Eigon, Llanigon. [3] [4] [5] [6]
St. Eigon is in the Greater Brecon Deanery, in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, in the Church in Wales (an independent member of the Anglican Communion). Before 1923, the diocese was in the Archdeaconry of Brecon within the Diocese of St Davids.
c.f. Crockfords clerical directory.
In 1839, William married Anne Elizabeth (nee Jones) Thomas (1812-1884). He followed the Thomas tradition of marrying a wealthy heiress. [7] William and Anne had five daughters and six sons. None of the daughters married, and lived in Llanthomas until their death. The parents, the five daughters, one son (William) and other family members are buried in the family grave in the St. Eigon, Llanigon graveyard. The daughters are: Mary Elizabeth (1844-86), Grace Catherine Anne (1846-1909), Edith Burnam (1849-1920), Frances Eleanor Jane (1853-1928) aka Daisy, [8] and Charlotte Alice Thomas (1848-1933). [9] [10] [11]
The eldest son William Jones Thomas (1839-1909) was a JP and Lieutenant Colonel in the Third Battalion South Wales Borderers. He never married and was the only son to die in Llanthomas. [12] [13] The remaining brothers died elsewhere and are buried in various locations:
The Norman lord Bernard de Neufmarché (c.1050–c.1125) successfully invaded and conquered Wales (between 1088 and 1095). Brycheiniog (now Wales) was divided into lesser lordships, and gifted to the knights who contributed to the conquest. Llanthomas lordship was part of the Hay lordship owned by William Revel, one of Bernard's knights. [15] From the Norman era through to the Edwardian era, the Llanthomas lordship was owned by the nobility, the wealthy and the infamous. Authoritative historical primary sources and secondary sources show that there were many high status individuals who owned Llanthomas:
William was neither nobility or wealthy. However, In 1858, William bought what became known as Llanthomas estate from Sir William Pilkington for £8000. William's annual stipend was a mere £100 per year, but his wife Anne came from a wealthy family, her mothers maiden name was Pateshall, an ancient family traceable to Norman times. The domicile for the estate was called Llanthomas hall. It was originally a Welsh long house but was upgraded to a grand three story mansion at great expense. Bay windows and a stone portico supported by stone columns were added. The mansion had servants including a cook, kitchen maid and house maid etc.
Some historians suggest that William may have been related to his Tudor namesake William Thomas (c.1524-1554), a previous owner of Llanthomas. The Tudor William Thomas was an avowed protestant. He was found guilty of treason for plotting to murder the Catholic Queen Mary I. He was committed to the Tower of London. From there he was drawn upon a sled to Tyburn, where he was hanged, beheaded, and quartered. His head was placed on London Bridge. Related or not, the Victorian William Thomas probably knew about this part of the estates history, which may have piqued his interest.
Until the death of William and Anne, the Thomas family lived comfortably, possibly at a cost to their daughters prospects. None of the daughters married, not least because William rejected suitors for three of their five daughters, possibly because the suitors were not wealthy enough to help sustain the upkeep of Llanthomas and their comfortable lifestyle:
Some believe that the dowries of the Thomas daughters was used to pay for substantial additions that William made to Llanthomas hall and their comfortable lifestyle. [25] Conversely, others believe that William spared his daughters from the dangers of serial pregnancies, [26] and they lived a materially privileged and secure existence. [27] In Victorian times the practice of exchanging surnames for inheritance purposes was common. A family-line struggling to produce male heirs would select a heir from among the available supply of male relatives by marriage, resulting in double-barrelled names. William gave five of his eleven children the Pateshall name, or Pateshall-associated, middle names. [28] William was alert to the possibility of the future inheritance of the Allensmore estate (four miles south-west of Hereford) and the right to bear the name and the Pateshall coat of arms. His plan for sustaining Llanthomas estate failed, despite having eleven children, like the Pateshall's they were not fruitful. By the time inheritance became possible, four sons were dead, one in an asylum. The only surviving son (Henry Evan) inherited both estates, however, he died within a year. His son also called Henry Evan (following the naming tradition for first sons) could not finance both estates. He in turn had a son who died young when "the fire seems to have gone out of the Pateshall line". Allensmore court which was the domicile of Allensmore estate was demolished and sold for scrap in 1960. [29]
By the time William Thomas died (1886), he had spent the bulk of his wife’s fortune improving Llanthomas (estate and hall). Death duties and evergrowing upkeep of the house and estate was passed on to the children of William and Anne. Llanthomas was inherited by descendants and wider family members. However, they not could prevent the Llanthomas hall from becoming dilapidated following a growing list of urgent repairs. For example, the unusual technology of an acetylene heating and lighting system. Parts of the estate were sold to raise income. In 1922, the farm was sold for £3000 to Mr. Thomas Jones Davies.[30] During the Second World War Llanthomas hall was used to house the pupils of a London girls’ school. However, after the war the upkeep of Llanthomas became too great a burden. In 1954, Llanthomas hall was demolished [31] Llanthomas hall was sold, as was its contents including tons of roof lead. [32] [33] William Thomas and his descendants were unable to sustain the estate that had a heritage going back to the second Norman invasion of Wales, nearly a millennia ago.
The Coflein online database, known as the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) stored in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth have archived records for Llanthomas hall: NPRN: 25787 [34]